


A Long Stroll

by Discet



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/F, Mostly Fluff, Obv., Reveal, Romance, Shenanigans, Takes Place 1 Year Later, Teaspoon of Angst, Valentine's Day, alya pov, alyanette - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-19
Updated: 2018-02-19
Packaged: 2019-03-21 07:16:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13735875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Discet/pseuds/Discet
Summary: Alya coming off a several long nights with little rest gets ready for a evening out with her best friend. It had been a stressful few days but she's looking forward to an uncomplicated night hanging out with Marinette.And if there is some small detail that she had somehow overlooked she certainly couldn't imagine what it was.





	A Long Stroll

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Xekstrin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xekstrin/gifts).



> Well this was originally written for Valentine's Day, but it turned out a lot longer than I thought it would. So here is a holiday fic, just a few days too late.

**Wednesday, the 14th**

Alya groaned as she sat up from her desk. She looked up at the last blog post she had been working on. It was filled exclusively with the letter ‘v’ repeating where her face had rested on the keyboard. She felt a slight headache of working through the night. 

Sometime on Sunday a hacker had broken into the Ladyblog and had just about ruined… everything. Most of the posts were deleted or replaced with memes involving the three young heroes. The background was an animated gif of Chat Noir bobbing his head with a smug smile. She had worked herself to the bone both Sunday and Monday night, nearly being late to school both times. On Tuesday she enlisted Nino to help her get control again. 

She was really glad to have kept him as a friend after they broke up. Despite some initial awkwardness they had managed to make the transition to good friends. Helped in no small part by how understanding and good a person he was. 

As the fog started to actually wake up she noticed that something was off. The sunlight in her room was... off somehow. It wasn’t coming in at the right angle for morning. Her eyes darted to the clock on her computer. 

[ _ 2:10 PM _ ] 

Alya balked at the time, standing up ready to rush her morning preparations.Then she slowly sat down, realizing that even if she ran for it she had no chance of getting there before the last class. 

Her parents were going to kill her. 

Her phone rumbled and her eyes widened at the 50 unseen messages left by people. A few were from her other friends but the vast majority were left by Marinette. 

 

**Mari:** Are you mad? Please I’m really sorry.

**Mari:** Please write back.

**Mari:** Are you sick?

**Mari:** We could see a different movie if you want

**Mari:** Or cancel if your not up for it...

 

Alya shut her eyes, all the text was swimming around in her head she scrolled through the messages. She had been sending these basically every break time. 

They had made plans to meet up afterschool for dinner and a movie, which after her week combating the most obnoxious hacker sounded like heaven. Just her and her friend relaxing. It was flattering that she was so worried about her missing school. She’d need to remember that the next time she planned on working straight through the night. 

Her tired eyes scrolled through the messages but she wasn’t able to focus on any of them. But they seemed to all be about their meeting tonight. 

 

**Alya:** Hey Mari. Sorry for radio silence, I was sleeping. 

 

She put the phone aside and stretched. She would need a shower as soon as possible. She did not like the gross feeling of the day old clothes. Just as she was about to go her phone buzzed in reply. 

 

**Mari:** All day?!? Are you okay?

**Alya:** Yeah, just dumb, 

**Alya:** I pulled another all nighter to get the Ladyblog back in order. 

**Alya:** I slept through 3 alarms. -_- 

**Mari:** Alya! You should take better care of yourself :o

**Mari:** Ladybug would understand.

**Mari:** Maybe we should call off tonight...

**Alya:** What?

**Mari:** You should get some rest. 

**Alya:** NO! I just got plenty of rest! 

**Alya:** just at the wrong time. 

**Alya:** besides

**Alya:** this will be the last night we can hang before my parents ground me for eternity! 

**Mari:** Well if you're sure…

**Alya:** I am. So where are we going tonight?

 

Alya placed the phone aside as she picked out clothes to change into. She would need be dressed and out the door before her parents got home. If the school had called them she would need to be far from here when they got home.

She managed to put together a pretty nice outfit for a night out. Nothing too fancy, but it sounded like Marinette had chosen a artsy bistro for them to go to. 

Alya showered put on her outfit and headed out on the town with her laptop. She had a few hours to burn until her meet up at the restaurant. She decided to spend most of it at a cafe near the restaurant. She passed the time checking up on the latest news, keeping an eye out for any Akuma developments. Rena Rouge couldn’t take the night off, even if it was to spend time with her best friend. She also found some new amateur footage of their most recent Akuma battle, fawning over Ladybug’s graceful moves and attacks.

It was hard having a crush on a celebrity. 

After downing a few coffee’s to keep her awake for the night, the time they had planned to meet rolled around. She slipped her laptop into her bag and headed off to the restaurant. 

Marinette had chosen  a cute little bistro for dinner. It was small, but in a nice intimate way rather than a crowded. The lights were dim, the tables were nicely decorated, and the hum of conversation filled the room. A waiter who had just delivered food caught sight of her and came up with a smile on his face “Reservation miss?” he asked flipping through a book by the register. 

“Reservation?”

“Yes, we are quite busy tonight as you can tell. We have no open tables I’m afraid.”

“Oh,” it did seem rather popular, “um, maybe under Marinette? Marinette Dupain-Cheng?” she hoped her friend had thought far enough ahead.

The waiter scanned the page and came across the name, “Ah yes, certainly right this way.” the waiter escorted her to a little corner of the restaurant. It was a two person booth coming out from the wall. He laid down two menus and gestured for her to sit “I will take your order when your partner arrives. May I get you a drink in the meantime?” he said asked a little jittery.

“That’s okay we can get everything when she arrives.” the man nodded appreciatively moving to service one of the many tables that seemed to be waiting for him. 

Alya took a moment to take in the air of the bistro. Everything smelled delicious and the mood of the restaurant was bubbly and happy. Everyone really seemed to be in high spirits.

Her phone buzzed and she checked it.

 

**Mari:** almost there! The metro had some trouble.

**Alya:** Alright, I’ll hold down the table.

**Mari:** Sorry!

 

Alya sat back, waiting patiently for her friend to show up. Alya glanced around at the other patrons all the tables set out were really small and could only fit pairs. Everyone were talking genially with their companion, all sitting close together. Lots of them looked like couples, with flirtatious looks, passing glancing touches…

Actually everyone looked like they were a couple. 

Alya did another check around and confirmed, everyone in the room seemed to be couple. At first she thought she must be mistaken, but no matter how much she looked there was not a family or a group of friends in sight. Additionally among their effects were flowers and chocolates set away under chairs and in bags. 

A cold sweat appeared on Alya’s forehead as she did some quick calculations. 

_ Sunday when the hacker got in was the 11th… and today is Wednesday making this the14th… February 14th… Its Valentines Day?! _

Alya felt her pulse quicken a little and she reached for her phone desperately thinking she must be mistaken, but the date was displayed ‘February 14th’.

_ Which meant that Marinette wasn’t inviting me out for a friend night out? She had invited me out on a date? _

Alya felt her face warm up. 

_ Marinette likes me? But I thought she liked Adrian? _

She thought back, sure that there was a some recent evidence of Marinette going goo-goo eyes for the model, but as she thought back farther and farther nothing seemed to show up. It had been months since the last time she had come to Alya with her love sick problems. 

_ M-maybe she had forgotten it was Valentine's Day too?  _

Alya vividly remembered last Valentines Day and her worrying over how (or if) she should tell Adrian she liked. Tossing and turning, going back and forth over what she should get him. She had agonized it for nearly two weeks. 

Alya remembered the bright smile on her face when she had finished the anonymous poem she had written. She had looked so happy and… radiant…

Alya felt her face get hotter at the loose thought.

_ No, there’s no way she had forgotten what day it was. _

She buried her head in her hands again, her face burning. She could never believe how dense Adrian had been towards Marinette. And yet, here she was! 

_ I-it’s okay Alya. Just calm down. No good comes from panicking. All you need is a little time to think _

The little bell at the entrance jingled, and it nearly set Alya flying from her seat. 

Marinette had arrived. She was in a simple but beautiful pink dress with a muted yellow bolero over it. She had a little pink hairband that matched her dress. Her hair was down from its usual pigtails giving her an air of elegance that made Alya’s stomach swim with butterflies. 

Marinette seemed a little nervous. She scanned the restaurant, and when her eyes met Alya’s at the back her eyes lit up, any insecurity vanishing. She hurried through the restaurant and Alya stood up to greet her.

“Alya!” Mari all but tackled Alya into a hug. 

_ She smells like flowers… _

“You’re really here.” Marinette pulled back, her face looking a little incredulous, but ever so happy. 

“O-of course, you didn’t think I’d leave you hanging did you?” she said taking her seat. 

“Well no… but I was worried, I was just” her face blushed  her eyes looking away “just thought I might be dreaming, you know?” she said her face blushing furiously. The endearment sent an arrow straight through Alya’s heart. “S-so” her voice pitched up “this place is uh, really nice. All the reviews said so.” Mari hid herself bashfully behind her menu. 

Alya smiled, taking her cue to take up her own menu and give Marinette a moment to collect herself. 

* * *

Mari giggled wildly as Alya finished her story. All in all, things were going well. She had worried things might have been awkward, but it all felt so natural. If it wasn’t for the butterflies in her stomach and the high she got whenever Mari laughed she might have mistaken it for a normal night. They had finished their meals and were just talking now. 

Mari took a few moments to stop chuckling “I’m so glad I worked up the courage to ask you out tonight.” she said smiling warmly.

“Yeah, I was surprised,” Alya lied, “you were really confident when you asked me.”

“Well… I remembered how you always told me to just be direct with Adrian and just talk to him. I figured, you know that was probably how you would want to be asked?” she smiled innocently. 

Alya felt a little guilty that she had totally missed the obvious of her invite, but figured that would be a fun thing to laugh about in hindsight rather than say right out now. “Speaking of Adrian… when did you...” she didn’t want to say give up, but she wasn’t sure how else to put  it.

“Oh...” Marionette chuckled a little “It’s a little embarrassing after… uh, everything. But after a while seeing all his troubles and helping him through them when I could… I sort of just see him as more of a friend. Or maybe like a brother?” she shrugged unsure which it was as an only child. “And when I stopped, uh, obsessing over him… I realized who” she faltered her gaze looking back down at her empty plate “w-who I really trusted and wanted to be with and-and” her voice grew quiet and mousy “and thought was pretty...”

Alya smiled looking at Marinette’s fully flushed face. She was wondering where her sheepish friend had gone. “You look really beautiful tonight, by the way.” she mentioned offhandedly. 

Alya expected another sputtering of embarrassed muttering, but instead she got a little quiet looking up from her plate of food brushing a little bit of hair behind her ear “Really?” her voice soft and earnest. 

Alya was momentarily stunned by the earnest seeking of praise, but smiled sweetly at her long time friend “Yeah girl, you look beautiful” a satisfied smile came to Mari’s face that filled Alya with warmth. “Did you make it yourself?”

“Yes, actually! Well not the accessories, but I sewed the dress and jacket” she said going into the details of the techniques and inspiration. Alya listened, Marinette was always enrapturing when she talked about her passion.

“Oh no” one of the the other patrons of the bistro said under their breath, looking at their phone “There’s been an Akuma attack...” she said.

Alya tensed up, she wanted nothing more than to stay with Marinette, but she needed to do something. She couldn’t leave all the work to Ladybug and Chat just because she was on a date. 

“I need to go-”

“I need to go-”

Alya looked to Marinette in bewilderment while her date looked suddenly nervous in an altogether different way than she had all night.

“I, uh, I need to go to the bathroom, is all.” she said rubbing the back of her head. “I’ll be right back.” Marinette ran for the only bathroom in the place, a small one by the kitchen. 

Alya looked after her confused when suddenly a crash came from the front of the restaurant. Chat Noir came crashing through tumbling through the restaurant. He broke through the glass window turning head over tail before crashing into a table. A plate of cream pasta was dumped on his head as he came to a stop. He groaned sitting up, licking at at the pasta, his scowl suddenly becoming a surprised smile “oooh, truffle oil!” 

Following through the hole, making an even larger one, a giant muscular man came into the restaurant.He wore a flamboyant outfit of shades of red. He wielded a massive hammer with a big heart shaped cudgel at the end. “Give me your miraculous Chat Noir! I Heartbreaker have come to end you! And once Hawkmoth has your power we will make all know the truth! That love is a lie!”

Most of the patrons of the restaurant started to scramble in a panic around the sudden large hulking gentleman rushing out of the building through the back or front entrances. 

Alya crouched below her own table, hiding beneath the table cloth. She looked furtively toward the bathroom. She wanted to rush in and help Chat, but she needed to make sure Marinette got to safety first. Her Kwami Trixx popped out from her bag looking at her “come on! We need to help Chat!” it squeaked 

“I need to make sure Mari gets to safety...” she said back, and she saw the bathroom door crack open, Marinette peering out, looking at the wreckage of the restaurant. Fortunately Chat had tricked and mislead the Akuma into the street again, giving Marinette an easy path out of the restaurant. “Good, now-”  she whispered as Marinette hid back in the bathroom much to Alya’s frustration. “She must be scared...”

“Then transform!” her Kwami insisted “If you defeat the Akuma then she’ll be safe!” Her Kwami insisted seeming more insistent than ever before. She didn’t want Marinette to think she abandoned her, but Alya realized that this was one of those frustrating sacrifices superheroes had to make sometimes. Hopefully Mari would understand. 

“Okay, Trixx, let’s pounce!” she said feeling the magical energy envelop her body, the power of the fox miraculous flowing into her. She flipped up the table cloth and was about to rush out to the street when the bathroom door opened up. She was about to give Marinette instruction to get to safety, and leave the fighting to herself and Chat. But when she turned back to the bathroom door she instead saw Ladybug, rushing out, just as ready as herself to enter the fray. 

For a fraction of a moment Alya didn’t quite put it all together. Then in a flash a thousand loose puzzle pieces came together.

Ladybug looked like a deer in the headlights. Her mouth was moving, but nothing coherent came out. 

“Marinette…?” a guilty look flashed across her hero’s face. There was a complex mix of emotion broiling within Alya. Surprise, confusion, amazement, frustration, and betrayal all mixing into something she couldn’t quite describe. 

“AHHHHHHHH” Chat Noir went sprinting full tilt across the entrance of the restaurant as the pounding footfalls of the Heartbreaker came rushing soon after. 

Rena Rogue looked back at Ladybug an inscrutable look on her face before saying quickly and simply “Later.” Ladybug’s nodded in agreement and they went to save their teammate. 

* * *

The fight was hard but quick in the grand scheme of things. Using their telltale teamwork to bring down the hulking warrior. 

“You can’t stop me!” the Heartbreaker said defiantly while stuck in sewer manhole. “Me and Hawkmoth will show the truth.”

Chat chuckled “How’s he going to change anything when he can’t even change his gimmick?”

“What!?” the Akumatized man demanded.

“An akuma who hates on love? On Valentines day?” Chat listed turning to Ladybug “Sound familiar?“ 

Heartbreaker looked confused as she continued to struggle against the concrete.

“Dark Cupid again... but with like a hammer instead of a bow?” Ladybug offered to her fellow heroes. 

“Yep” Rena Rogue kneeled down and plucked a small box mounted on on the villains chest. “I guess Hawkmoth is running out of ideas” the box was the dark purple of an akuma, but just from its size and weight, it was clearly a box for an engagement right. 

A ping of sympathy went through the fox heroine. She could easily paint a picture of what made the man so desperate to allow Hawkmoth to take control of him. With a twist of a wrist she tore the top of the box from its hinges, the akuma butterfly fluttering out from the destroyed item. 

Ladybug quickly dealt with the butterfly and the man deflated to a much more reasonable, but still incredibly muscular man. They prevented him from falling through to the sewer. 

The chirping noise warning of the end of Chat Noir’s transformation sounded and he turned to his two allies with his charming smirk “Well, I guess I must bring an end to our lovely date. Good night my foxy friend. And my lady, I would be remiss to not compliment you on your lovely hair tonight.” he gave two little bows and jumped up to a rooftop disappearing into the night of Paris. 

After Ladybug and Rena had sent the heartbroken man on his way home, and explaining things to the police. They were left alone only the two of them and the murmering chattering of curious citizens. 

They left the crime scene and found a little alleyway to allow their transformations to drop. Her powers returning to the miraculous around her neck. She then turned to Ladybug watching carefully. There was a look of guilt in her eyes as she dropped her own form. Leaving only her best friend standing in her date clothing. Despite knowing  that Marinette was Ladybug, seeing the mask evaporate was still surprising somehow. 

They stood there, tense for a moment. Alya noticed that Marinette looked… worried.  “Well, I think we're a little late for the movie but… can I walk you home?” Alya offered. 

Marinette nodded meekly and they started to walk through the streets of Paris. Despite the early hour, the streets were a little bear. It wasn’t uncommon after an akuma attack. Many chose to stay inside where they were it was safe or rushed to the crime scene. Only a few people walked through the streets leaving the pair with a sense of privacy not usually afforded in the public streets of Paris. 

For the first few blocks no words passed between them, just an awkward hanging tension neither wanted to break. After a while Alya couldn’t handle it anymore, “So, the restaurant was really nice, thank you for treating me...”

“Oh, it was no trouble re-” suddenly Marinette looked shocked and looked back down the road they had gone down “Oh, wait, I never paid, we need to go back-” Marinette nearly started sprinting down the road before Alya caught her shoulder. 

“Girl, I think they are going to be closed for the night... How about we go back on the weekend?” she reasoned. Marinette frowned, but seemed to agree, and the two of them continued down the road. 

“I’m… sorry” Marinette finally said  

“Sorry? For what?”

“”Well, I mean… you’ve been dreaming of who Ladybug has been for over a year now. I doubt you had imagined someone much cooler than me behind the mask.” she said in the tone she always did when she talked down about herself. “You must be disappointed...”

Alya thought for a moment, “No… not really.” Marinette looked up at her skeptically. “I mean, I definitely didn’t expect it to be you, but that has more to do with the fact that you always seemed so indifferent about all of this” she said holding up her own necklace. Then Alya’s face scrunched up “Which in retrospect was a really transparent way to mislead me.” she shrugged, still amazed at how long Marinette had managed to fool her, “I feel a little disappointed in myself that I never figure it out, cause wow! The more I think about it the more glaringly obvious.” she said and Marinette chuckled a little, “I mean I’ve been reading comic books for  _ years _ . Do you know how many times I’ve complained that no one would ever notice that Batman and Bruce Wayne was never in the same place _?!? _ ” Alya remembered, almost torturously, all the times she and Marinette were hanging out when an Akuma would attacked. How Marinette would suddenly disappear and almost immediately Ladybug would show up. “Now  _ that’s  _ embarrassing” 

Marinette was chuckling openly now the worried expression mostly gone at this point. “I am sorry about that. You know why I couldn’t tell you right?” 

“I know.” Alya said with a shrug “Hawk Moth can take over people’s minds. One bad day for either of us, now spells disaster.” Marinette nodded, but she still looked a little guilty. Alya bit her lip “Well if we’re admitting to little deceptions I do have one to confess.”

Marinette raised a brow in question.

“Before we got to the restaurant” Alya took a slow breath “I uh... didn’t actually realize that tonight was going to be a… date” she blushed a bit. Another failure of her deductive reasoning. 

“What?” Marinette said her voice suddenly deadpan.

“I thought we were doing like a friend date?” 

“What?!” Marinette said back her voice incredulous.

“I mean, you didn’t really say  _ date, _ just that we were going out” she defended.

“It’s Valentine's Day Alya!”

“Between the lack of sleep and dealing with the hacker... I sort of lost track of what day it was...” she offered with a shrug. 

A whine came from the back of her throat as she pulled at her loose hair, “Oh! I knew you were too cool about it!” she said “I had all these words to convince you if you said no, but you accepted so easily! I thought it would be weird...” she bent over looking defeated “I didn’t even consider you might not have  _ realized  _ I was asking you out!” she said distressed.

Alya laughed patting her affectionately on the back. She was glad everything was getting less tense as they continued. “I mean. A part of it was that I didn’t know you could be confident when your talking to your crush. Let alone asking them out.” Alya complimented pulling her best friend up “I mean, I’m impressed girl, you didn’t stutter or anything. How’d you do it?”

Marinette smiled looking away slightly “Uh, I think I had a little bit of an unfair advantage since it was you...”

“How do you mean?” she certainly didn’t remember filling up notebooks with Mari<3Alya or anything that would make Marinette think she was any more interested that Adrian had been. 

“Well, uh, do you remember back when you broke up with Nino?”

Alya did. It was a pretty stressful day, even if it all worked out for the best. “yeah...?”

Marinette's face was getting redder by the moment “and uh, do you remember that you told me  _ why _ ?”

“Yeah.” Alya said easily, it had been a pretty defining moment for her, figuring out she was gay, “A few nights before I had a dream about…” Alya’s face went blank, connecting the dots “about how Ladybug and I were… making out.” she stopped walking, Marinette couldn’t meet her eyes. She just stood there for a moment, mortified. Then she snapped her back straight, clapping her hands together “Well it's been great, but I need to go jump in the river now.” Alya tried walking straight into the currently abandoned street, towards the nearest bridge to jump off of. Marinette caught her hand before she could get far.

“No!” she said “Really it wasn’t that bad...“ she said a small smile at the corner of her lips

“I Told You  _ EVERYTHING! _ ” she lamented. Alya’s mind raced through all the times she had confided in her best friend about her impossible crush. Every detail of what she admired about the hero, whether it was her stalwart spirit or her bright beautiful blue eyes. “How could you let me tell you everything!? Why didn’t you stop me?” she pleaded with her friend shaking her by the shoulders.

“I-I-” she stuttered as her head was shoved back and forth before grabbing onto Alya’s arms to stop the shaking “After all the times I confided in you about Adrian? I couldn’t turn around and tell you ‘I don’t want to hear it’!”

“God, I have never been so embarrassed.” They were walking past the school now, meaning their walk was soon coming to an end. Alya let out a huff of embarrassment, forcing herself to smile as they continued down the road. Carefully and slowly she reached down for Marinette’s hand taking it in her own “Still, I guess if it gave you the confidence to confess then I can at least take solace in that.” Marinette blushed but held Alya’s eye contact as they got to the front door to her family bakery. “I mean if anyone had told me I would end up dating Ladybug by the end of the night, I would have told them they were crazy.” Marinette smiled at the joke, but her eyes suddenly filled with the same worry as earlier, “What’s wrong?”

“It’s… it’s nothing” she said waving her free hand “It’s just some dumb-”

“If its worrying you it’s not dumb” Alya said simply, “What’s wrong?”

Marinette pulled back, taking her hand back “I… I’m not Ladybug” she started and Alya just blinked in confusion. It was a little late for that denial. Marinette squeezed her eyes shut shaking her head “I mean, I am, I am Ladybug but at the same time I’m not. Not really” Alya noticed all the signs of Marinette started to get frazzled her works picking up pitch and speed, “I do all the things that Ladybug does but I’m not who  _ you _ think Ladybug is. I do all the heroics and stuff but that isn’t all I am and-” her voice sped up even more “I don’t want you to thinkyour dating the onewhenyour actually datingjustme and I don’twant youtobe disappointedwhen youonly have meand thenwebreakupand itsallmyfaultand-”

“Marinette breath!” Alya commanded and the girl took in much needed breath of air, her body shaking a little bit. “calm down. Just talk slowly, I’m not going anywhere” Marinette nodded getting quiet, choosing her words carefully. One minute passed, then another. A few times she opened her mouth to start again but seemed to decide against it. Alya waited on pins and needles feeling increasingly nervous for what Marinette had to tell her. Eventually she had to break the silence “Okay, I’m not going anywhere but we do have classes tomorrow,” she joked and Marinette smiled getting the message. 

She took one last calming breath before starting, “Okay, so, we’ve talked a lot about Ladybug right?” Alya’s first instinct was to make a sarcastic comment giving the conversation immediately prior but held it in, opting to nod instead “Well, you have a really, really,  _ really _ high opinion of her. How she’s cool and confident and uh” she blushed looking away “ _ romantically experienced? _ ” she offered sheepishly “You think she’s someone who is strong and brave and swave but...” she looked down “but that’s not me. Not most of the time,” she said soberly before looking back up at Alya with that worried expression back, “Most of the time I’m just Marinette Dupain-Cheng, aspiring fashion designer and professional awkward train wreck” she smiled but like it was a joke but it didn’t quite reach her eyes, “and one day, when we’ve defeated Hawkmoth and everyone’s safe… I’m not going to be Ladybug, there’s only going to be Marinette.” she shrugged a little helplessly “It’s why I wanted to ask you out as Marinette and not Ladybug. I want to date my friend and not… not my fan...” she said clearly worried that the words might offend Alya. 

Alya took her own few moments to think over her words. She had known that her friend didn’t have the best self-esteem, but she wasn’t aware it was this bad. 

Marinette grew nervous in the silence and started to speak again “a-and I mean I’m definitely not experienced, the only time I’ve kissed anyone was cause of an Akuma attack, I really don’t know what I’m doing, oh this wasa badidea-”

“Well we can fix that” Alya said interrupted with her trademark confidence pushing through her friends nervous rambling. Alya smiled gently taking both of Marinette’s fidgeting hands in her own. She took one last short breath before speaking “Marinette. Even before tonight, I felt so lucky to have you as a friend.” she started, making sure to instil each word with earnestness. “When you decide to do something you dedicate yourself with your heart and soul, and if there was someone you could help, you do so without hesitation.” she smiled Marinette looked like she wanted to object in some way but Alya didn’t give her the chance “And even if you doubt yourself, you never let that stop you for long. Even when your scared you try anyways. Marinette…” she took a beat giving Marinette's hands a soft squeeze, gently rubbing them with her thumbs. “I’m so happy you asked me out Marinette Dupain-Cheng. And that wouldn’t change if we got rid of Hawkmoth tomorrow.” 

Marinette looked mesmerized by her words. After a moment she closed her eyes and leaned forward slightly pursing her lips. Alya was confused for a moment before remembering how she had started her speech. She felt embarrassed being put on the spot. Despite this, she mustered up her courage. She leaned forward and under the warm glow of the streetlamps pressed a gentle kiss against her best friends lips. 

They held it for a few moments before they pulled back. Marinette had a smile plastered on her face before she fell into a fit of nervous happy giggles. She freed her hands to stop herself, but the smile showed through anyway. Her eyes were bright, all signs of worry gone, replaced by something that made Alya’s knees a little weak. 

Marinette took a step back towards her door, “I guess I-I’ll see you tomorrow at school?” she said a note of excitement in her voice. 

“Y-yeah” Alya said, feeling her own jittering excitement, realizing she had just started dating her first girlfriend. Marinette opened her door and gave a little awkward wave before ducking inside. 

Alya stood there a few moments, a nervous but happy energy buzzing inside her, that carried her with a skip in her step all the way home... 

…

…

...

… where she was summarily grounded for missing school that day.

**Author's Note:**

> I would like to thank/blame Xekstrin for inspiring me to write this and write my first fic for the fandom. 
> 
> For everyone else, I hope you enjoyed yourselves. Leave a comment or a kudo if it isn't too much trouble. 
> 
> Also the outfit I described for Marinette came from this lovely piece of art by TaylorDraws [Art : http://w.tt/2BDFT5d] [Tumblr : http://bit.ly/2ECJ3Jk]


End file.
